Just be patient and keep looking. I picked my 2008 F250 V10 SCSB up for $12k from a Ford dealer a year and a half ago. It had 110k miles on the odometer. Granted, it's an XL, but still a fair price.

Other comparable trucks at the time with equal or more mileage were noticeably more expensive. I searched for at least three months before I found the right deal.

 

There's one at a dealership not to far from me. Asking $9,500 for a 03 North Dakota truck with next to no rust. 175k miles XLT. I would say yes to it, but I know from before they are asking way too much. A few months ago they had a 1999 F350 CCLB 4x4 7.3L PSD ZF6 NV271 t-case with 371k miles on it. Truck might have been in an accident because none of the F350 badges matched (one was for the 99-04 and the other was for the 05-07), plus the driver's side door had to be shut hard to get it to close all the way. Came with a brake controller. Guy claimed to have towed a 5th wheel car hauler with it (yet no 5th wheel was in the bed of the truck nor were any holes there). Truck had 3.73 gears. Frame had zero rust on it...looked like someone cleaned it up underneath and repainted the frame. They were asking $10,000 for it. I ran away from that deal.

I did so because a few months before at a Ford dealer there was a 2001 F250 Lariat auto 7.3L PSD 4x4 with 125k miles extended cab short bed asking for about $12,000 for it. Would've jumped on it at the time but was laid off and needed to save up.

So I'm searching CL, auto magazines and local papers to find a good truck. I know its worth the wait, but I can get fairly impatient.

Old lady wants me to get a Lariat because of the heated seats if possible and she likes the dash of the 08+ trucks. Only thing I don't like about the 08s though is that the grille goes up with the hood but I doubt I'd hit it.

Once I get the truck though, I am keeping an iron grip on it and will make sure it lasts at least 10+ years.

 

I also use cargurus.com and compare it with Autotrader.

 

Thanks for the suggestion. Never used that one before. I use to use carsoup but after a while they changed it up too much, but I think its more or less back to normal.

 

Is possible to replace a 3-valve 6.8L V10 with a 2-valve engine for model year 2005, which for F-250 was the first year with the 3-valve V10 gasoline engine.
Asking because a 2005 truck I am considering to buy had a its V10 engine replaced, so concerned if he replaced it with an earlier 2-valve model.
I am not an engine expert but know enough that the 3-valve version makes the V10 worthwhile because the truck purchase price is so much lower.
So can the engine be visually inspected to determine if it is the 2-valve version instead of the 3-valve version of the 6.8L V10 ?